The Relationship Between Promotion and Prevention Regulatory Focus and Job Crafting: The Mediating Role of Career Decision Ambiguity Tolerance
Abstract
Objective: The aim of the study was to identify individual predictors of job crafting, understood as the proactive efforts of employees to modify aspects of their work. Job crafting refers to bottom-up initiatives undertaken by employees to adjust their job roles to better fit their skills, needs, and preferences. According to the adopted theoretical model, these initiatives encompass three domains: task crafting, relational crafting, and cognitive crafting.
Method: The study involved 558 employed individuals aged 18 to 76 years (M = 40.1, SD = 11.7). The following instruments were used to measure the variables: the Job Crafting Questionnaire by Slemp & Vella-Brodrick, adapted by Kasprzak et al.; the Regulatory Focus Scale (promotion and prevention) by Kolańczyk, Bąk, and Brzezińska; and the Career Decision Ambiguity Tolerance Questionnaire by Xu and Tracey.
Results: Promotion focus, prevention focus, and motivational strength emerged as predictors of both tolerance of ambiguity and job crafting in the tested mediation models. The results also confirmed the presence of indirect effects of promotion focus, prevention focus, and motivational strength on job crafting through the mediator—ambiguity tolerance.
Conclusion: The findings contribute to a better understanding of the individual factors that facilitate job crafting. They also suggest that strengthening employees’ personal resources may support effective job crafting within organizations.
Keywords:
job crafting, regulatory focus, ambiguity tolerance, CDATReferences
Amillano, A., Letona Ibañez, O., Martínez Rodríguez, S., & Carrasco, M. (2024). Job crafting and satisfaction with life: A mediation model through the meaning of work. Current Psychology, 44(2), 837–846. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-07198-5
Crossref
Google Scholar
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The job demands-resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309–328. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940710733115
Crossref
Google Scholar
Bakker, A. B., Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., & Taris, T. W. (2008). Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology. Work & Stress, 22(3), 187–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678370802393649
Crossref
Google Scholar
Bakker, A. B., Tims, M., & Derks, D. (2012). Proactive personality and job performance: The role of job crafting and work engagement. Human Relations, 65(10), 1359–1378. https:// doi.org/10.1177/0018726712453471
Crossref
Google Scholar
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2017). Job demands–resources theory: Taking stock and looking forward. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 273–285. https:// doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000056
Crossref
Google Scholar
Begley, T. M., & Boyd, D. P. (1988). Psychological characteristics associated with performance in entrepreneurial firms and smaller businesses. Journal of Business Venturing, 2, 79–93.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Bercu, B., & Proïa, F. (2013). A sharp analysis on the asymptotic behavior of the Durbin–Watson statistic for the first-order autoregressive process. ESAIM: Proceedings and Surveys, 28, 1–31.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Berg, J. M., Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2008). What is job crafting and why does it matter? [unpublished manuscript]. Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship, University of Michigan. https://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/What-is-Job-Crafting-and-Why-Does-it-Matter1.pdf Google Scholar
Berg, J. M., Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2013). Job crafting and meaningful work. In B. J. Dik, Z. S. Byrne & M. F. Steger (Eds.), Purpose and meaning in the workplace (pp. 81–104). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14183-005
Crossref
Google Scholar
Bizzi, L. (2017). Network characteristics: When an individual’s job crafting depends on the jobs of others. Human Relations, 70(4), 436–460. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726716658963
Crossref
Google Scholar
Brenninkmeijer, V., & Hekkert-Koning, M. (2015). To craft or not to craft: The relationships between regulatory focus, job crafting and work outcomes. Career Development International, 20(2), 147–162. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-12-2014-0162
Crossref
Google Scholar
Budner, S. (1962). Intolerance of ambiguity as a personality variable. Journal of Personality, 30(1), 29–50. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1962.tb02303.x
Crossref
Google Scholar
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499–512. https:// doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.499
Crossref
Google Scholar
Chen, W., Wang, B., Chen, Y., Zhang, J., & Liu, Y. (2023). Can work still be crafted under authority? A study of the differential effect of employee regulatory focus on job crafting. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 8(3), Article 100370. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.jik.2023.100370
Crossref
Google Scholar
Dewett, T., & Denisi, A. S. (2007). What motivates organizational citizenship behaviours? Exploring the role of regulatory focus theory. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 16(3), 241–260. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594320701273606
Crossref
Google Scholar
Dubbelt, L., Demerouti, E., & Rispens, S. (2019). The value of job crafting for work engagement, task performance, and career satisfaction: Longitudinal and quasi-experimental evidence. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 28(3), 300–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2019.1576632
Crossref
Google Scholar
Endres, M. L., Chowdhury, S., & Milner, M. (2009). Ambiguity tolerance and accurate assessment of self-efficacy in a complex decision task. Journal of Management & Organization, 15(1), 31–46. https://doi.org/10.5172/jmo.837.15.1.31
Crossref
Google Scholar
Furnham, A., & Marks, J. (2013). Tolerance of ambiguity: A review of the recent literature. Psychology, 4(9), 717–728. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2013.49102
Crossref
Google Scholar
Gati, I., & Levin, N. (2014). Counseling for career decision-making difficulties: Measures and methods. The Career Development Quarterly, 62(2), 98–113. https://doi.org/10.1002/ j.2161-0045.2014.00073.x
Crossref
Google Scholar
Gori, A., Arcioni, A., Topino, E., Palazzeschi, L., & Di Fabio, A. (2021). Constructing well-being in organizations: First empirical results on job crafting, personality traits, and insight. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(12), Article 6661. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126661
Crossref
Google Scholar
Gosling, S. D., Vazire, S., Srivastava, S., & John, O. P. (2004). Should we trust web-based studies? A comparative analysis of six preconceptions about internet questionnaires. American Psychologist, 59(2), 93–104. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.59.2.93
Crossref
Google Scholar
Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain: How regulation creates distinct types of value. American Psychologist, 52(12), 1280–1300. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.52.12.1280
Crossref
Google Scholar
Higgins, E. T. (2000). Making a good decision: Value from fit. American Psychologist, 55(11), 1217–1230. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.11.1217
Crossref
Google Scholar
Higgins, E. T. (2005). Value from regulatory fit. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(4), 209–213. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00366.x
Crossref
Google Scholar
Higgins, E. T. (2012). Beyond pleasure and pain: How motivation works. Oxford University Press.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Hofstede, G. (2000). Kultury i organizacje. Zaprogramowanie umysłu [Cultures and organizations. Software of the mind]. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. Google Scholar
Hung, H., Wang, Y., Tian, Z., & Yang, J. (2020). A cross-level investigation of team-member exchange on team and individual job crafting with the moderating effect of regulatory focus. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(6), Article 2044. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062044
Crossref
Google Scholar
Kapica, Ł. (2021). Czy zmniejszanie wymagań stanowi kategorię przekształcania pracy i wiąże się z zaangażowaniem w pracę? [Does reducing job demands constitute a dimension of job crafting and relate to work engagement?]. Polskie Forum Psychologiczne, 26(3), 277–297. https://doi.org/10.34767/PFP.2021.03.03 Google Scholar
Kapica, Ł., Baka, Ł., & Niemiec, A. (2022). Job crafting jako metoda budowania zasobów i pozytywnych postaw pracowników wobec pracy. Job crafting as a method of building resources and positive employee attitudes toward work. CIOP PIB. https://www.ciop.pl/ CIOPPortalWAR/file/96073/Job_Crafting_jako_metoda_budowania_zasobow_i_ pozytywnych_postaw_wobec_pracy.pdf Google Scholar
Kark, R., & van Dijk, D. (2007). Motivation to lead, motivation to follow: The role of the self- regulatory focus in leadership processes. Academy of Management Review, 32(2), 500–528.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Kasprzak, E., Michalak, M., & Minda, M. (2017). Kwestionariusz kształtowania pracy – KKPracy. Polska adaptacja narzędzia. [Job Crafting Questionnaire – KKPracy: Polish adaptation of the instrument]. Psychologia Społeczna, 12(4), 459–475. https:// doi.org/10.7366/1896180020174308 Google Scholar
Koh, H. C. (1996). Testing hypotheses of entrepreneurial characteristics: A study of Hong Kong MBA students. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 11(3), 12–25.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Kolańczyk, A., Bąk, W., & Roczniewska, M. (2013). Skala samoregulacji promocyjnej i prewencyjnej (SSPP) [Promotion and Prevention Regulatory Focus Scale (SSPP)]. Psychologia Społeczna, 8(2/25), 203–218. Google Scholar
Lee, J. Y., & Lee, Y. (2018). Job crafting and performance: Literature review and implications for human resource development. Human Resource Development Review, 17(3), 277–313. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484318788269
Crossref
Google Scholar
Letona-Ibañez, O., Martinez-Rodriguez, S., Ortiz-Marques, N., & Carrasco, M. (2021). Job crafting and work engagement: The mediating role of work meaning. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10), Article 5383. https:// doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105383
Crossref
Google Scholar
Levin, N., Lipshits-Braziler, Y., & Gati, I. (2020). Difficulties in career decision making and self-evaluations: A meta-analysis. Journal of Career Assessment, 28(4), 608–635. https:// doi.org/10.1177/1069072720910089 Google Scholar
Lichtenthaler, P. W., & Fischbach, A. (2019). A meta-analysis on promotion- and prevention-focused job crafting. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 28(1), 30–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2018.1527767
Crossref
Google Scholar
Lipshits-Braziler, Y., Gati, I., & Tatar, M. (2016). Strategies for coping with career indecision: Convergent, divergent, and incremental validity. Journal of Career Assessment, 25(2), 183–202. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072715620608
Crossref
Google Scholar
Morales-Solis, J. C., Chen, J., May, D. R., & Schwoerer, C. (2023). Resiliency and meaningfulness in work: A job crafting perspective. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 31(6), 2581–2594. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-09-2021-2951
Crossref
Google Scholar
Neubert, M. J., Kacmar, K. M., Carlson, D. S., Chonko, L. B., & Roberts, J. A. (2008). Regulatory focus as a mediator of the influence of initiating structure and servant leadership on employee behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(6), 1220–1233. https:// doi.org/10.1037/a0012695
Crossref
Google Scholar
Pan, J.-L., Chiu, C.-Y., & Wu, K.-S. (2021). Leader-member exchange fosters nurses’ job and life satisfaction: The mediating effect of job crafting. PLoS ONE, 16(4), Article 0250789. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250789
Crossref
Google Scholar
Park, S., & Ha, Y. (2025). The relationship between positive psychological capital and work engagement in clinical nurses: Mediation effect of job crafting. BMC Nursing, 24, Article 117. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02600-w
Crossref
Google Scholar
Parker, S. K., Bindl, U. K., & Strauss, K. (2010). Making things happen: A model of proactive motivation. Journal of Management, 36(4), 827–856. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0149206310363732
Crossref
Google Scholar
Paszkowska-Rogacz, A., & Znajmiecka-Sikora, M. (2020). Styl przywiązania a tolerancja niejednoznaczności w sytuacji podejmowania decyzji zawodowych przez młodych dorosłych. Mediacyjny efekt poczucia bezpieczeństwa [Attachment style and ambiguity tolerance in career decision-making among young adults. The mediating effect of sense of security]. Polskie Forum Psychologiczne, 25(1), 67–84. https://doi.org/10.14656/PFP20200104 Google Scholar
Razmus, W., & Mielniczuk, E. (2018). Błąd wspólnej metody w badaniach kwestionariuszowych [Common method bias in questionnaire-based research]. Polskie Forum Psychologiczne, 23(2), 277–290. https://doi.org/10.14656/ PFP20180204 Google Scholar
Rhee, S.-Y., Shin, Y., Hur, W.-M., & Hwang, H. (2024). Daily renewal for job performance: Understanding the role of recovery, sleep, resilience, and job crafting from a self-regulatory strength perspective. Current Psychology, 43(44), 34227–34241. https://doi. org/10.1007/s12144-024-06906-5
Crossref
Google Scholar
Rogala, A., & Cieślak, R. (2019). Positive emotions at work and job crafting: Results from two prospective studies. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 2786. https://doi.org/10.3389/ fpsyg.2019.02786
Crossref
Google Scholar
Rogala, A., & Cieślak, R. (2019). Narzędzie do pomiaru przekształcania pracy: właściwości psychometryczne polskiej wersji Job Crafting Scale [A tool for measuring job crafting: Psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Job Crafting Scale]. Medycyna Pracy, 70(4), 445–457. https://doi.org/10.13075/mp.5893.00822
Crossref
Google Scholar
Rudolph, C. W., Katz, I. M., Lavigne, K. N., & Zacher, H. (2017). Job crafting: A meta-analysis of relationships with individual differences, job characteristics, and work outcomes. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 102, 112–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2017.05.008
Crossref
Google Scholar
Sethi, D., Pereira, V., & Chakraborty, T. (2023). The impact of leader–member exchange, perceived organizational support, and readiness for change on job crafting behaviours in HRM in an emerging market. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 34(1), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2023.2189021
Crossref
Google Scholar
Shang, Y., Zhao, R., & Richards, M. (2023). Do work stressors facilitate or impede job crafting? The role of employee trait and work regulatory focus. Career Development International, 28(2), 250–274. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-02-2022-0028
Crossref
Google Scholar
Shi, J., Cai, X., & Pan, X. (2022). Work–nonwork facilitation mediates the link between job crafting and life satisfaction. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 14(2), 350–370. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12374
Crossref
Google Scholar
Son, S. J. (2024). Nonwork orientations and job crafting: A moderated mediation model of life satisfaction and age. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-024-09686-3
Crossref
Google Scholar
Super, D. E. (1980). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 16(3), 282–298. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-8791(80)90056-1
Crossref
Google Scholar
Tims, M., & Bakker, A. B. (2010). Job crafting: Towards a new model of individual job redesign. South African Journal of Industrial Psychology, 36(2), 1–9. https://doi.org/ 10.4102/sajip.v36i2.841
Crossref
Google Scholar
Tims, M., Bakker, A. B., & Derks, D. (2012). Development and validation of the job crafting scale. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(1), 173–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb. 2011.05.009
Crossref
Google Scholar
Tims, M., Bakker, A. B., & Derks, D. (2014). Daily job crafting and the self-efficacy–performance relationship. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 29(5), 490–507. https://doi. org/10.1108/JMP-05-2012-0148
Crossref
Google Scholar
Tims, M., Bakker, A. B., & Derks, D. (2015). Job crafting and job performance: A longitudinal study. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 24(6), 914–928. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2014.969245
Crossref
Google Scholar
Tseng, H. C., & Kang, L. M. (2008). How does regulatory focus affect uncertainty towards organizational change? Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 29(8), 713–731.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Udayar, S., Levin, N., Lipshits-Braziler, Y., Rochat, S., Di Fabio, A., Gati, I., & Sovet, L. (2020). Difficulties in career decision making and self-evaluations: A meta-analysis. Journal of Career Assessment, 28(4), 608–635. https://doi.org/10.1177/10690727209100
Crossref
Google Scholar
van Wingerden, J., Bakker, A. B., & Derks, D. (2017). Fostering employee well-being via a job crafting intervention. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 100, 164–174. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2017.03.008
Crossref
Google Scholar
Vermooten, N., Boonzaier, B., & Kidd, M. (2019). Job crafting, proactive personality and meaningful work: Implications for employee engagement and turnover intention. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 45(1), Article a1567. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip. v45i0.1567
Crossref
Google Scholar
Wagener, S., Gorgievski, M., & Rijsdijk, S. (2010). Businessman or host? Individual differences between entrepreneurs and small business owners in the hospitality industry. The Service Industries Journal, 30(9), 1513–1527. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642060802624324
Crossref
Google Scholar
Wallace, J. C., Johnson, P. D., & Frazier, M. L. (2009). An examination of the factorial, construct, and predictive validity and utility of the regulatory focus at work scale. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30(6), 805–831. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.572
Crossref
Google Scholar
Wrzesniewski, A., & Dutton, J. E. (2001). Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active crafters of their work. The Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 179–201. https:// doi.org/10.2307/259118
Crossref
Google Scholar
Wrzesniewski, A., LoBuglio, N., Dutton, J. E., & Berg, J. M. (2013). Job crafting and cultivating positive meaning and identity in work. In A. B. Bakker (Eds.), Advances in Positive Organizational Psychology (vol. 1, pp. 281–302). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2046-410X(2013)0000001015
Crossref
Google Scholar
Xu, H., Hou, Z.-J., & Tracey, T. J. (2014). Relation of environmental and self-career exploration with career decision-making difficulties in Chinese students. Journal of Career Assessment, 22(4), 654–665. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072713515628
Crossref
Google Scholar
Xu, H., & Tracey, T. J. (2014a). Ambiguity tolerance with career indecision: An examination of the mediation effect of career decision-making self-efficacy. Journal of Career Assessment, 22, 1–12. Google Scholar
Xu, H., & Tracey, T. J. (2014b). The role of ambiguity tolerance in career decision making. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 85(1), 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.04.001
Crossref
Google Scholar
Xu, H., & Tracey, T. J. (2015). Career decision ambiguity tolerance scale: Construction and initial validations. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 88, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.jvb.2015.01.006
Crossref
Google Scholar
Xu, H., & Tracey, T. J. (2017). The reciprocal dynamic model of career decision ambiguity tolerance with career indecision: A longitudinal three-wave investigation. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64(5), 538–549. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000220
Crossref
Google Scholar
Yoo, B., Donthu, N., & Lenartowicz, T. (2011). Measuring Hofstede’s five dimensions of cultural values at the individual level: Development and validation of CVSCALE. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 23(3), 193–210. Google Scholar
Yun, M.-S., Lee, M., & Choi, E.-H. (2024). Job crafting, positive psychological capital, and social support as predictors of job embeddedness among clinical nurses: A structural model design. BMC Nursing, 23, Article 192. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-01845-9
Crossref
Google Scholar
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
